GSSI

Global Benchmark Tool

8 GSSI Recognized Certification Schemes

These 8 schemes have successfully completed the full GSSI Benchmark Process. Once a scheme completes the process, it is formally and publicly announced as ‘GSSI recognized’. All Information and reporting about our recognized schemes can be found using the overview link.

Overview GSSI Recognized Certifcation

What it does

Underpinned by the FAO Guidelines, GSSI’s Global Benchmark Tool provides formal recognition of seafood certification schemes that successfully complete a rigorous and transparent benchmark process. The Tool aims to minimize the overall environmental impact of how we produce, catch and supply seafood to meet the growing global demand.

Why it’s needed



A Sustainable Future

The fisheries and aquaculture sectors are continuously growing, and with more than half of the world’s fish stocks being fully utilized, the seafood sector can no longer operate without the consideration of sustainability.



Aligning Global Efforts and Resources

The Global Benchmark Tool provides confidence in certified seafood and promotes improvement in seafood certification schemes by recognizing those that are robust and credible. Using the Tool, GSSI aligns global efforts and resources to address the latest seafood sustainability challenges. Together we can make a difference for the future of seafood and ensure that there is more sustainable seafood for everyone.

How it works

GSSI’s Global Benchmark Tool is made up of 3 parts:

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Framework

Information on GSSI Essential Components, which a scheme needs to meet to be recognized by GSSI, and information on GSSI Supplementary Components, which show a scheme’s diverse approach

Process

Steps a scheme goes through to be recognized by GSSI

Result

The statement of GSSI Recognition and Benchmark Report

Benchmark Framework

All seafood certification schemes will be assessed against Sections A and B. Depending on the scope of the
seafood certification scheme, they will also be assessed against either Section C or D or both.

Governance of Seafood Certification Schemes
Operational Management of Seafood Certification Schemes
Aquaculture Certification Standards
Fisheries Certification Standards

Benchmark Framework

Benchmark Framework Glossary

Seven-step Benchmark Process

The Tool’s seven-step Benchmark Process is voluntary and designed to be independent, impartial and transparent. The expert-led process involves objective assessments made against performance areas covering scheme governance, operational management (including chain of custody) and standards for aquaculture and fisheries certification.

Learn more about the Benchmark Process

Read our Benchmark Procedures

THE

UN Food and Agriculture Organization

The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) of the United Nations is a specialized agency that leads international efforts to defeat hunger and a founding member of GSSI. The FAO supported the development of a common benchmark for seafood certification schemes. GSSI used the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries, the FAO Guidelines for Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine/Inland Capture Fisheries and the FAO Technical Guidelines on Aquaculture Certification, which were endorsed by the Committee on Fisheries. These guidelines are globally accepted instruments that set the bar for responsible fisheries and ecolabelling.

The FAO Guidelines upon which the Tool is based:

The FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries (CCRF)

The FAO Technical Guidelines for Aquaculture Certification

The FAO Guidelines for Ecolabelling of Fish and Fishery Products from Marine/Inland Capture Fisheries

The Global Benchmark Tool is valued across the entire seafood sector for the following benefits.

Harvesters / Producers

The Global Benchmark Tool provides harvesters and producers the opportunity to choose a certification scheme best suited for them, while still being recognized as robust in the global market. In turn, working with one certification leads to reduced auditing costs and eliminates redundancies.

Processors / Wholesale / Distribution

The Global Benchmark Tool provides processors, wholesalers and distributors with more choice in credible certified seafood. This choice results in greater affordability and flexibility in supply chain, enabling them to diversify their sourcing and thus, improving the supply needed to meet an increasing demand for certified seafood.

Retail / Food Service

The Global Benchmark Tool provides retailers/food service providers with an added level of assurance in their certified seafood sourcing. This assurance creates more choice in the market and ensures confidence in the seafood we source. It also enables more informed and simplified decision making, as well as globally consistent and centralized data to guide your purchasing decision.

NGOs

For NGOs advocating for healthy oceans and marine resources, GSSI provides a global, multi-stakeholder platform for collaboration and knowledge exchange. At the same time, GSSI’s Global Benchmark Tool is helping to improve existing certification schemes and to shape the development of new schemes in line with internationally agreed FAO guidelines.

Governmental and Inter-Governmental Organizations

For governmental and inter-governmental organizations promoting sustainable development for the seafood sector and for those whose livelihoods depend on it, GSSI acts as a leading public-private partnership. GSSI connects governments, industry and other supply chain actors, helping them to meet international commitments, including the UN Sustainable Development Goals 2, 8, 12, 14, and 17.

Scheme Owners

Being GSSI certificated allows Scheme Owners to showcase their commitment and alignment with the FAO Guidelines. By undergoing the Global Benchmark Tool process, Scheme Owners can be assured that their standards meet the bar for their environmental, governmental and operational criteria.

Our Experts

The Benchmarking Process is voluntary and designed to be independent, impartial and transparent. To ensure the process remains so, GSSI recruits experts to provide objective assessments against the Benchmark Framework. The schemes are assessed by an Independent Expert and reviewed by a Benchmark Integrity Committee.

Independent Experts

Benchmark Integrity Committee

Development timeline

2014

Initial Draft

Expert Working Groups develop initial drafts of the Benchmark Framework and the Benchmark Process. These documents are approved by the GSSI Steering Board. Two rounds of stakeholder consultations take place as well as a pilot testing program.

2015

Launch of the Tool

The Global Benchmark Tool is launched with the FAO at the 20-year anniversary of the adoption of the FAO Code of Conduct for Responsible Fisheries.

Watch video

2019

Begin of Revisions

Schemes, Independent Experts and Benchmark Committee Members provide feedback on v1.0 of the Tool. Expert Working Group review begins. A 60-day public consultation takes place for v1.0 in 2020.

Expert Working Groups

Public Consultation Response Letters

2021

Version 2.0

Following Expert Working Group reviews, public consultation, and approval from the GSSI Steering Board, the revised Global Benchmark Tool is launched at the bi-annual GSSI Partners Meeting on October 20.

Framework Revisions for v2.0

Keeping
up to Date

In order to ensure that the Benchmark Tool is up to date and in line with current FAO guidelines, revisions take place every three years. Revisions for version 2.0 – launched in October of 2021 – were focused on the following three areas:

Improvement of benchmark component language

Reduction of the number of components to reduce complexity while maintaining the benchmark standard

Inclusion of new FAO guidelines as supplementary components

We encourage all stakeholders to actively participate in our Global Benchmark Tool Process, including conducting and guiding the benchmark process, providing comments during our public consultations, and taking part in the development of new initiatives including the review of the Tool.

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Participate in our Public Consultations

The Global Benchmark Tool Process is designed to be transparent and a true multi-stakeholder process. Therefore, for every scheme that enters the Benchmark Process and reaches step 5 of the process, GSSI holds a 30-day public consultation. GSSI welcomes comments from all industry stakeholders. Learn more

Become a Benchmark Committee Member

To ensure the Benchmark Process remains independent and impartial, GSSI works with a global network of Benchmark Committee Members to provide feedback on the process for each seafood certification scheme. To learn more and apply to be a Benchmark Committee Member, please contact secretariat@ourgssi.org.

Join an Expert Working Group

For the development of GSSI’s tools, we convene multi-stakeholder Expert Working Groups to inform and shape the solutions. Contact secretariat@ourgssi.org for more information.

Provide Comments

Do you have comments, complaints, or thoughts about the Global Benchmark Tool? Please share them with us here.

Apply to be benchmarked

The GSSI Benchmark Process, and subsequent GSSI recognition, is open to all third-party assured seafood certification schemes. Certification schemes will pay a benchmark fee to cover the operational costs of the Benchmark Process. To apply to enter into the Benchmark Process, please contact the GSSI Secretariat:

Prefer Direct Mail? secretariat@ourgssi.org

CeDePesca

Encourage good practices in small-scale fisheries through co-management.

CeDePesca are working on a confirmation of a Co-management Commission in Panama have begun data collection through voluntary logbooks by fishers.

It is an ongoing experience where we are discussing and resolving together how to recover the diminished resources that make our livelihoods. We really thank CeDePesca and Seafood MAP for their help on this process.

Ernesto Vargas

FENAPESCA (National Artisanal Fishers Federation)

The Philippines and Indonesia - Asian Seafood Improvement Collaborative

Providing improvement-oriented programs to smallholder producers and fishers to improve their social and environmental practices for better international markets while improving livelihoods and building resilient communities.

This aquaculture project seeks to engage smallholder shrimp farmers to help them improve their efforts towards environmental, social, and gender equality sustainability targets. ASIC provides improvement programs to allow for a step-by-step continuous journey for smallholder farmers to comply with the ASIC Shrimp and Social and Gender Standards. The program offers verification of sustainable practices at no cost which is then leveraged to provide direct market access to buyers. ASIC fisheries project is working to finalize its program while providing support to existing fisheries programs in the Philippines and looking to pilot its program soon.

The social and gender components are a new area that we have not yet heard before and through this program, our awareness has increased - which extended to farm management, household, and to the community level.

Smallholder Farmer

Indonesia

Uganda - Deutsche Gesellschaft fϋr Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH

Ensuring food security and reducing poverty by increasing fish supply and income

The Responsible Fisheries Business Chains Project (RFBCP) in Uganda is concentrating on sustainable fisheries management of Nile Perch on Lake Victoria and Lake Kyoga. Currently, GIZ-RFBCP is drafting selection criteria that will be used to identify producers to work with. The status of such businesses will be ascertained at the beginning and where points of weakness are identified in regards to sustainability measures. GIZ-RFBCP will work with producers to validate their sustainability measures and help them register on the Seafood MAP.

China - China Aquatic Products Processing and Marketing Alliance and China Blue Sustainability Institute

Optimizing the industrial layout, conserving fishery resources, and protecting water ecology to meet the growing consumer demand for high-quality protein and to provide producers with new sustainable practices.

CAPPMA and China Blue have been working with scientific research teams, producers, purchasers, and other stakeholders over the span of this project. In close cooperation, a large amount of research has been carried out and suggestions have been made for the optimization and next development of the Seafood MAP registration model based on China's characteristics and reality.

In China, there are many types of aquatic products available for residents to consume, and the production model is diversified. Reflecting on our pilot work so far, we know more time is needed to optimize, but we are looking forward to establishing a concrete buildout of the Seafood MAP platform to move our work forward and improve.

Janelle Dong

CAPPMA

Papua New Guinea - Fishing Association of Papua New Guinea

Exposing our progress and performance with seafood supply chain partners and finding common ground for collaboration to move towards certification.

The prawn and lobster fisheries management in the area is aimed at preserving the fishery for the traditional inhabitants, with strict limited entry for non-inhabitants. We aim to move all fisheries and aquaculture operations toward sustainable certification, we need Seafood MAP as a path to educate our fisher how to collect data properly, report and assess it.

Seafood MAP has increased the collaboration between the National Fishery Authority and the producers in the area with respect to data collection, measuring performance and reporting against the robust Seafood MAP criteria based on FAO and SDG indicators.

Marcelo Hidalgo

Sustainability Director, FIA PNG

Aquaconnect and IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative

Working towards more efficient resource use by collecting and analyzing farm and disease data.

The project focused on improving disease data collection and analysis, by linking Aquaconnect to a lead aquatic epidemiologist. The objective of the project is to provide farmers better information on diseases with the ultimate aim to improve resource efficiency. The Aquaconnect team tested the Seafood MAP registration form for seafood producers, as well as the self-evaluation form for their customers.

Through the IDH-Aquaconnect program, we were able to promote sustainable practices among the farmers communities and set several shrimp production benchmarks. One of the key highlights is that we have redesigned our data architecture to capture individual and population-level symptoms to support the shrimp epidemiology study.

Sudhakar Velayutham

Project Manager, Aquaconnect

Indonesia - UNIDO

Strengthening the quality and standard compliance capacity of small and medium-scale enterprises to improve market access to both domestic and international markets.

The programme supports the country to align the demand and supply of quality services required by markets through enhancing quality infrastructure and services, strengthening producers and value chains, and raising a culture for quality.

The Indonesian fisheries sector has great potential for both capture fisheries and aquaculture, with small fishers and farmers dominating the sector. Small scale fishers and farmers usually have limited access to markets, technology, information, finance, and public services. Helping them to improve their access to these services will ultimately improve their livelihood that could incentivize sustainable fishing and farming practices.

Ita Sualia

Chief Operations Officer, UNIDO

Ecuador - Sustainable Shrimp Partnership and IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative

Supporting SSP members to achieve their goals and supporting small and medium-scale farmers to achieve SSP through the establishment and coordination of an improvement program.

Over the course of the project, twelve farms qualified for the SSP criteria of zero antibiotics, ASC certification, minimal environmental impact, and full traceability. Currently, the SSP focuses on a better understanding of their carbon and water footprint by joining the IDH Aquaculture Working Group on Environmental footprint. The SSP team tested the Seafood MAP registration form for seafood producers, as well as the self-evaluation form for their improvement program.

The improvement program allowed us to support small shrimp farms to demonstrate accountability by improving their environmental and social performance and it demonstrated that SSP members are committed to the highest levels of transparency by being the first shrimp producers in the world to adapt blockchain traceability for shrimp

Pamela Nath

Director, SSP

Mozambique - Pescamar and Nueva Pescanova

Improve maritime fishing training in Mozambique to ensure local generational replacement of fleet masters and resilience of fishing communities

The project is a public-private initiative that transfers knowledge from the Atlantic Maritime Fisheries Institute of Vigo (Spain) to the Matola Fishing School (Mozambique) funded by AECID and the collaboration of Pescamar and Nueva Pescanova. To date it has allowed improving the school´s curricula, and its equipment and has incorporated students to work at Pescamar.

Seafood MAP will give visibility to the work that Pescamar is doing to contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals, in this case highlighting its collaborative work to improve fisheries education.

Jose Joaquin Rodriguez

General Manager, Pescamar

Hugo Byrnes

Vice President Product Integrity, Ahold Delhaize

Hugo Byrnes joined Ahold in 2006 and was subsequently appointed to the position of Vice President Product Integrity. He is responsible for Ahold Delhaize’s food and non-food product policies, which cover product safety and responsible products. This includes social compliance, animal welfare and environmental issues. Hugo Byrnes has a Dutch Law degree from the State University Leiden, the Netherlands. He is a food lawyer whose career has focused on the food business and in particular on quality management and standardization.

Flavio Corsin

Director of Partnerships, Aqua-Spark

Flavio has spent more than two decades working in responsible aquaculture globally for non-profit, intergovernmental, and for-profit organizations. As Aqua-Spark’s Director of Partnerships, he is responsible for driving the development and execution of a robust partner ecosystem that aligns all stakeholders behind a core vision, while supporting Aqua-Spark’s portfolio, network, and goals. Prior to joining Aqua-Spark, Flavio worked for IDH, the Sustainable Trade Initiative, overseeing their Aquaculture Program. He was also IDH Vietnam Country Director, establishing groundbreaking public-private partnerships in coffee, tea, and apparel. He founded and ran the sustainability arm of the Vietnam association of farmers and fishers (VINAFIS). He has worked as an expert for over 20 international organizations such as the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO), the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), and the World Organization for Animal Health (OIE) and the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF). Flavio holds an M.Sc. in Aquaculture from the University of Stirling and a Ph.D. in Epidemiology, the study of diseases in populations, from the University of Liverpool.

GSSI

Global Benchmark Tool

8 GSSI Recognized Certification Schemes

What it does

Why it’s needed

A Sustainable Future

Aligning Global Efforts and Resources

How it works

Framework

Process

Result

Benchmark Framework

Seven-step Benchmark Process

THE

UN Food and Agriculture Organization

The FAO Guidelines upon which the Tool is based:

The Global Benchmark Tool is valued across the entire seafood sector for the following benefits.

Harvesters / Producers

Processors / Wholesale / Distribution

Retail / Food Service

NGOs

Governmental and Inter-Governmental Organizations

Scheme Owners

Our Experts

Development timeline

Initial Draft

Launch of the Tool

Begin of Revisions

Version 2.0

Keepingup to Date

Improvement of benchmark component language

Reduction of the number of components to reduce complexity while maintaining the benchmark standard

Inclusion of new FAO guidelines as supplementary components

Leave blank and at the top

Participate in our Public Consultations

Become a Benchmark Committee Member

Join an Expert Working Group

Provide Comments

Apply to be benchmarked

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Encourage good practices in small-scale fisheries through co-management.

Providing improvement-oriented programs to smallholder producers and fishers to improve their social and environmental practices for better international markets while improving livelihoods and building resilient communities.

Ensuring food security and reducing poverty by increasing fish supply and income

Optimizing the industrial layout, conserving fishery resources, and protecting water ecology to meet the growing consumer demand for high-quality protein and to provide producers with new sustainable practices.

Exposing our progress and performance with seafood supply chain partners and finding common ground for collaboration to move towards certification.

Working towards more efficient resource use by collecting and analyzing farm and disease data.

Strengthening the quality and standard compliance capacity of small and medium-scale enterprises to improve market access to both domestic and international markets.

Supporting SSP members to achieve their goals and supporting small and medium-scale farmers to achieve SSP through the establishment and coordination of an improvement program.

Improve maritime fishing training in Mozambique to ensure local generational replacement of fleet masters and resilience of fishing communities

Hugo Byrnes

Vice President Product Integrity, Ahold Delhaize

Flavio Corsin

Director of Partnerships, Aqua-Spark

Keeping
up to Date